Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have two questions. First, the Minister of State did not respond on the contrast between Europe's apparent concern in Ukraine to uphold territorial integrity and sovereignty as a fundamental principle, which is what the Taoiseach stated, and its absolute failure to do that in relation to Palestine. In fact, these are starkly contrasting approaches. One country gets sanctioned for breaching those principles while another country gets favourable trade status, not sanctions, despite repeated calls for sanctions. I would like to hear a comment on that.

I accept there is another dimension to property and it concerns housing policy, which we will take up elsewhere. There is a major macroeconomic dimension at national and European levels and it is often forgotten in intricate discussions about European economic architecture that property was at the heart of the crash across Europe and the United States. For us not to see the issue as a central consideration when looking at the question of macroeconomic imbalances or potential warning bells about developing imbalances is crazy yet I do not hear talk about it. I ask for this to begin to feature in our discussions. Is there any discussion about whether property-based tax reliefs, encouraging speculation in property, are inherently dangerous?

I see a link between the failure to look at the problem and the imperative of the EU, which the Government has adopted, to say that the banks must restore as much value from the distressed assets as possible. If that means inflating the property market, so be it. They are not worried about it.

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